Masterclasses will provide participants with carbon literacy accreditation, enabling them to make informed decisions about carbon reduction.
Are you a councillor or council officer who has responsibility for delivering your council's ambitions for delivering net zero, climate adaptation or biodiversity targets? Sign up for one of our Sustainability masterclasses to learn how you can take meaningful action and become carbon literacy accredited, with plenty of opportunities for collaboration, discussion, and support.
The LGA's Sustainability Masterclass courses will provide participants with a carbon literacy accreditation, enabling them to make informed decisions about carbon reduction.
The courses have been developed and tailored to two audiences:
1. Councillors This could include but is not limited to leaders, deputy leaders, portfolio holders and scrutiny chairs.
2. Senior council officers This is aimed at but not limited to housing, economic growth, planning, finance, climate, biodiversity, and procurement officers. They also may include directors and chief executives of councils.
Each cohort has a maximum capacity of 35 attendees, if your chosen date is fully booked we will allocate you a space on a waitlist and will notify you as soon as a space becomes available.
It is also imperative that participants attend BOTH sessions in order to receive carbon literacy accreditation.
If you are unable to attend both days, please do not sign up as this may prevent others from participating and you will not receive accreditation.
provide participants with the opportunity to become carbon literacy accredited
offer a different perspective on sustainability to provide understanding into various methodologies and practical guidance to support replication and scaling of notable sustainability practices.
Sustainability masterclasses are open to English councillors and council officers, free of charge.
Councils taking part in our Sustainability masterclasses will benefit from:
helping to explore the crucial local leadership role in responding to the climate emergency, green finance, carbon net zero and adaptation
exploring levers for councils to reduce carbon emissions projects
providing opportunities for councillors to work together to learn from each other’s experiences
equipping those who attend the training to train others in their council and local area on the climate emergency.
Who are the masterclasses for? Our expectations for delegates
Our virtual sustainability masterclasses are aimed at councillors and council officers working on sustainability activities at councils in England, who:
have the capacity to undertake the training, which will include a commitment to attending the masterclass and completing satisfaction surveys afterwards
are willing to share your learning and experiences from the programme within your own council and with other councils across the country
will contribute positively to all the sessions and workshops.
This programme will help senior council officers and councillors to explore their crucial local leadership role in responding to the climate emergency. During the course, you’ll commit to two carbon reducing actions. These actions will be evaluated by the Carbon Literacy Project for you to be certified as Carbon Literate, enabling you to train others in your area of work.
The course is aimed at senior officers and councillors across council services and will look to provide skills and knowledge that will enable you to embed good practice concerning climate change, carbon literacy, adaptation, green finance and environmental sustainability within your teams and departments.
The following provides further detail on the training to inform your decision on if the course is right for you.
Yes – the attendees will receive carbon literacy training. Attendees of the training will then submit an application committing to carbon reducing actions. This is then approved by the carbon literacy project a few weeks after the sessions take place.
The carbon literacy course will last over two days, both running 09:30-15:30 with times set aside for lunch and breaks. It will involve committing to several carbon reducing actions following the training and will feature a number of external speakers to share best practice and thinking. Once allocated a space on the training, the carbon literacy form will be shared with you, for your completion.
No – the course is fully subsidised.
We strongly recommend anyone attending the training be present across the entirety of both days of the course. We are able to work around some work commitments that conflict and are not movable however, missing a lengthy amount of time will deprive others of a slot and also damage participant prospects of attaining carbon literate accreditation.
Unfortunately, due to our funding arrangements, we are not able to offer this training to Town or Parish Councils. Additionally, we are unable to offer this training to any Welsh councils who are also not covered by the funding. Sincere apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.
The training is technically open to all officers from eligible authorities (see above). However, it has been designed with senior officers (Head of Service or higher) and councillors in mind, and so aspects of the course may be less valuable to those in more junior roles.
If you have submitted an application, an email will be sent around in due course confirming a slot on the training or if you are on the waiting list. If you have not heard anything within 10 working days, we suggest contacting the team on [email protected]
Each session can host a maximum of 35 attendees. Training slots are given out primarily on a first come, first serve basis. Please note however, that the LGA is committed to ensuring fair and proportionate representation across local authorities and regions. Therefore, each council can only have a maximum of two staff attend any set of sessions.
Any person who expresses an interest to attend the sessions who is unsuccessful will be placed on our waiting list. They will be offered any slots that do become available and will also be directly emailed future training opportunities when confirmed. If another staff member of your council successfully completes the training they will have taken the first step towards being able to offer the training themselves and share the learning across your organisation.
Through gaining carbon literate accreditation, attendees will gain knowledge and confidence to provide carbon literacy training to others following the training. Additionally, slides from the training and other resources will be made available post-session. These can be used as a basis for developing a bespoke local course to share with colleagues and train others.
The training is delivered virtually on Microsoft Teams and a link will be provided to anyone successfully allocated a place before the event.
The LGA recognises these sessions are incredibly popular and valued by the sector. If you would like to hear about future learning opportunities and events please subscribe to our Sustainability Bulletin.
The LGA is committed to data protection and demonstrates compliance with the Data Protection Act (May 2018) and the General Data Protection Regulation 2018. Any personal information you give with active consent will be used by the LGA for legitimate purposes only. The LGA will only lawfully process data with your consent and in accordance with the legitimate interests of the company.
For any further questions about the training please contact [email protected]
